F1 / F2B Questions, Please!

[C56 1]

Hello,

In June 2018 I’ve filed an I-130 petition as a LPR mother sponsoring for my unmarried 21+ son and his derivative beneficiary child, presently he is 15 years old.

I received the Notice of Action 1-797C letter from California Service Center.

In June 2020, during the pandemic, I became U.S. citizen.

I’ve never submitted to USCIS my change of status from LPR to Citizen.

Apparently the USCIS did not update automatically my son’s family preference from F2B to F1.

I am watching closely the progress of F2B in the Visa Bulletin Final Action Dates (World).

I am very worried about the aging out of my derivative beneficiary (15 years old grandson), since CSPA does not protect derivative beneficiaries.

In the next couple of years, I am planning to submit a request to USCIS for retaining F2B preference instead F1.

I would like to ask a couple of questions, if I may:

1- How the California Service Center processing times (40-52 months) can interfere/slow down my I-130 to be approved?

Will my I-130 be approved accordingly with time frame of California Service Center or Visa Bulletin? I am sorry if this is a stupid question. I feel I am missing something here.

2- What Visa Bulletin chart should I keep watching for my petition progress, since my son is Not in the US: Final Action Dates or Dates for Filing Family Visa Applications?

Please kindly advise.

Your help will be much appreciated.

Thank you,

C56

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

Of course CSPA protects derivatives, who told you it didn’t?

You should update your status with USCIS. You can choose to retain F2B. 

The dates on the visa bulletin do not have anything to do with processing of the case. That is the processing times at CSC you refer to, and yes, that is time to approval. The visa bulletin simply indicates when a priority date is current, that is, a visa number is available and your beneficiary can be scheduled for interview. If he is outside the US, chart A final action dates is the relevant one.
Processing time doesn’t really matter as long as it is before the date is current. (Well, it usually matters if there is a CSPA consideration, then you want it as long as possible as long as it’s before priority date is current, but your grandson is so far from aging out I don’t think it really matters in your case anyway.)

 

 

 

Edited January 25, 2021 by SusieQQQ

[C56 1]

32 minutes ago, SusieQQQ said:

Of course CSPA protects derivatives, who told you it didn’t?

You should update your status with USCIS. You can choose to retain F2B. 

The dates on the visa bulletin do not have anything to do with processing of the case. That is the processing times at CSC you refer to, and yes, that is time to approval. The visa bulletin simply indicates when a priority date is current, that is, a visa number is available and your beneficiary can be scheduled for interview. If he is outside the US, chart A final action dates is the relevant one.
Processing time doesn’t really matter as long as it is before the date is current. (Well, it usually matters if there is a CSPA consideration, then you want it as long as possible as long as it’s before priority date is current, but your grandson is so far from aging out I don’t think it really matters in your case anyway.)

 

 

 

Thank you Susie.

Sorry, I am still confused. I thought that when the date of the Bulletin has reached our priority date, it  would mean that a Visa has became available for my son, therefore his I-130 could be approved and our petition would be sent to NVC, consulate, interview....

All I need to know is approximately when I will be receiving a I-130 approved letter! It has been 2 and half years since I first applied. 

I still do not understand the Service Center role, specially when each service Center have different processing times. 

I was planning to observe for more 1 or 2 years the bulletin dates of both F1 and F2B and then decide to update the status with USCIS, or ask to retain the F2B. 

Regarding to the derivative beneficiary, nobody told me. I read about it. 

Thank you very much for your advice. 

C56

 

 

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

Just now, C56 said:

Thank you Susie.

Sorry, I am still confused. I thought that when the date of the Bulletin has reached our priority date, it  would mean that a Visa has became available for my son, therefore his I-130 could be approved and our petition would be sent to NVC, consulate, interview....

All I need to know is approximately when I will be receiving a I-130 approved letter! It has been 2 and half years since I first applied. 

I still do not understand the Service Center role, specially when each service Center have different processing times. 

I was planning to observe for more 1 or 2 years the bulletin dates of both F1 and F2B and then decide to update the status with USCIS, or ask to retain the F2B. 

Regarding to the derivative beneficiary, nobody told me. I read about it. 

Thank you very much for your advice. 

C56

 

 

Ok, I’ll take a step back, the process is this:

- you submit an i130

- it gets allocated to a a service center, who is responsible for processing it (checking the claimed relationship is valid , etc). Once it is finished processing it gets approved, you get a notice of approval. The 40-52 months you looked up is the normal time span for processing/ approval, so you probably have another 2-3 years to wait for approval. Once the uscis processing center has approved it, the case gets passed on to the NVC.

- NVC will notify you approximately a year before the priority date is expected to be current that you need to submit documents - this is when the affidavit of support, ds260 get submitted. The case is complete at NVC’s end when it is documentarily qualified - that is, once all documents are submitted and approved.

- then you wait for the priority date to become current, this is when an interview can be scheduled at the embassy. So approval takes place before (usually well before) this stage.

 

Not sure where you read that about CSPA, the vast majority of CSPA cases in fact apply to derivatives. There is in fact only one category, under 21 child of LPR, where it is possible for the principal beneficiary to age out. 

[C56 1]

Thank you Susie ,

Is the 52 weeks (4 years and 4 months) from my priority date June 2018? If it is then by October 2022 I should be receiving my I-130 approved. 

By Oct.2022 the case will be passed to NVC. 

Then I should look to the Visa Bulletin and estimate 1 year before my priority date will be current to submit the documents.

I guess I understood.

Thank you.

C56

 

 

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

38 minutes ago, C56 said:

Thank you Susie ,

Is the 52 weeks (4 years and 4 months) from my priority date June 2018? If it is then by October 2022 I should be receiving my I-130 approved. 

By Oct.2022 the case will be passed to NVC. 

Then I should look to the Visa Bulletin and estimate 1 year before my priority date will be current to submit the documents.

I guess I understood.

Thank you.

C56

 

 

Anywhere from the 40 to 52 months (assuming no change, these times do change) - so it could be as “soon” as around September this year. But after that, all you do is wait for NVC to contact you.
 

The approximately one year before is actually what they put into chart B - dates for filing - so you can watch that, when your priority date is current in that table you can probably expect to hear from NVC soon after.

By the way: I think there is just about no chance of your grandson aging out. Even without CSPA he has another 5-6 years (not sure of his exact age) before he turns 21. Then you subtract the processing time - already 2.5 years and likely at least another year added on to that - from his actual age to get to his CSPA age. That effectively gives him another 8-10 years from now before he ages out, when it seems likely the PD (on F2B basis) will be current in 3-4 years.